community
directory
books
authors
images
encyclopedia

[ Table of Contents ] [ Previous Page ] [ Next Page ]
The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth
Book, page 11 / 300


was carried far away from all that were bound or willing to
submit to his commands, far away from all signs of hereditary
grandeur--plunged into one of our great public schools--into a
new world. Forced to struggle, mind and body, with his equals,
his rivals, the little lord became a spirited schoolboy, and, in
time, a man. Fortunately for him, science and literature
happened to be the fashion among a set of clever young men with
whom he was at Cambridge. His ambition for intellectual
superiority was raised, his views were enlarged, his tastes and
his manners formed. The sobriety of English good sense mixed
most advantageously with Irish vivacity; English prudence
governed, but did not extinguish his Irish enthusiasm. But, in
fact, English and Irish had not been invidiously contrasted in
his mind: he had been so long resident in England, and so
intimately connected with Englishmen, that he was not obvious to
any of the commonplace ridicule thrown upon Hibernians; and he
had lived with men who were too well informed and liberal to
misjudge or depreciate a sister country. He had found, from
experience, that, however reserved the English may be in manner,
they are warm at heart; that, however averse they may be from
forming new acquaintance, their esteem and confidence once
gained, they make the most solid friends. He had formed
friendships in England; he was fully sensible of the superior
comforts, refinement, and information, of English society; but
his own country was endeared to him by early association, and a
sense of duty and patriotism attached him to Ireland. And shall
I too be an absentee? was a question which resulted from these
reflections--a question which he was not yet prepared to answer
decidedly. In the meantime, the first business of the morning
was to execute a commission for a Cambridge friend. Mr. Berryl
had bought from Mr. Mordicai, a famous London coachmaker, a
curricle, WARRANTED SOUND, for which he had paid a sound price,
upon express condition that Mr. Mordicai, BARRING ACCIDENTS,
should be answerable for all repairs of the curricle for six
months. In three, both the carriage and body were found to be
good for nothing--the curricle had been returned to Mr. Mordicai
--nothing had since been heard of it, or from him--and Lord
Colambre had undertaken to pay him and it a visit, and to make
all proper inquiries. Accordingly, he went to the coachmaker's,
and, obtaining no satisfaction from the underlings, desired to

 
[ Table of Contents ] [ Previous Page ] [ Next Page ]
Google
  Web knowledgerush

Knowledgerush Search


 

Contact UsPrivacy Statement & Terms of Use

 
Copyright © 1999-2004 Knowledgerush.com. All rights reserved.